Kuwait ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

PI/2003/13

Kuwait has deposited its instrument of ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) with the Secretary-General of the United Nations on 6 May 2003, bringing the total number of ratifications to 101. Ten of the 26 States in the Middle East and South Asia geographical region have now ratified the Treaty.

The CTBT bans any nuclear weapon test explosion in any environment. Drafted at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, and adopted by the General Assembly on 10 September 1996, the Treaty was opened for signature on 24 September 1996 at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Kuwaithosts an International Monitoring System (IMS) radionuclide station, RN40, in Kuwait City. This station forms part of the global network of 337 IMS monitoring facilities being established under the terms of the CTBT to verify compliance with the terms of the Treaty. The monitoring facilities transmit data via satellite to the International Data Centre (IDC) in Vienna, where the data are used to detect, locate and characterize events. These data and IDC products are made available to the States Signatories for final analysis.

To date, 101 States have deposited their instruments of ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. To enter into force, however, the Treaty must be signed and ratified by the 44 States that formally participated in the work of the 1996 session of the Conference on Disarmament and that possess nuclear power or research reactors. Thirty-one of these States have ratified the Treaty.